Aragog
Aragog (c. 1942–20 April 1997) was a blind Acromantula owned by Rubeus Hagrid. Like the rest of his species, Aragog had a taste for human flesh and was able to communicate with humans. In his youth, he was the size of a Pekingese and near the end of his life was about the size of a small elephant with an eighteen-foot leg span. Aragog had a wife, Mosag, and was the leader of a large Acromantula colony composed of all of his sons and daughters. During his life, Aragog was accused of being Slytherin's Monster, although this was really a basilisk. Ironically, all spiders fear the basilisk. After Aragog died, some of his venom was taken by Horace Slughorn and was most likely sold later on. Biography Early life Aragog was originally brought as an egg in a distant land and came to Britain in the pocket of a traveller. Somehow, the egg came into possession of Rubeus Hagrid, who at the time was a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. After Aragog hatched from it, Hagrid kept him in a cupboard in one of the school's dungeons, feeding him scraps. Opening of the Chamber of Secrets and Ron Weasley encounter Aragog and his offspring in the Forbidden Forest]] When Lord Voldemort, known previously as Tom Marvolo Riddle, began unleashing Slytherin's Monster, the Basilisk, upon the castle to exterminate its Muggle-born population, Aragog was framed as being the monster and Hagrid was accused of being Slytherin's heir. When one of its victims, Moaning Myrtle, died, it motivated the school's governors to consider closing the school. Tom, who considered Hogwarts his only home, found out about Aragog after discovering the young Hagrid tending to the Acromantula, and blamed it for the monster's rampage. Tom came to capture the creature, but Hagrid helped Aragog escape to the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid was later punished with expulsion from the school. Aragog, meanwhile, had to flee into the Forbidden Forest. Hagrid, though expelled, was assigned the position of Gamekeeper at Hogwarts, by the intervention of Albus Dumbledore, thus allowing him to stay in contact with Aragog. Hagrid would visit Aragog now and then, bringing him food. On one particular visit, Hagrid brought Aragog a wife, Mosag, another Acromantula. The two Acromantulas started a large colony. Aragog also became blind. History repeats itself In 1993, Salazar Slytherin's basilisk was unleashed on the castle again. This time, however, the rampage did not result in any deaths, only the petrification of several muggle-born students. Once again the governors considered closing the school due to the attacks. Governors of the school once again accused Hagrid of being the Heir of Slytherin. Hagrid vaguely told Ron Weasley and Harry Potter to "follow the spiders," but couched this advice in a statement to Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge. Though reluctantly, the two decided to continue their investigation of the monster, and follow the spiders like Hagrid had indirectly told them. There the two found Aragog and his colony. They subsequently learned that Aragog was not the monster of the Chamber. Aragog told the two that while he showed mercy to Hagrid, he would not deny his many children fresh meat—even if they were Hagrid's friends. However, thanks to the Flying Ford Anglia, Aragog and his children failed to eat the two boys. After this, Harry and Ron actually found the real monster and the real heir, Tom Riddle. Death and Post-Mortem makes an impression of Aragog]] , Hagrid, Harry and Fang attend Aragog's funeral]] In 1996, Harry and Hermione Granger, in an attempt to lure Dolores Umbridge into a trap in the Forbidden Forest, took the path towards Aragog's colony, but the immediate danger of running into Aragog's children was avoided when the local Centaurs intercepted them. That same year, Aragog contracted an unknown illness over the summer, and despite Hagrid's attempts to heal and comfort Aragog by feeding him giant grubs, he eventually died on 20 April, 1997. Before this time, it had been dangerous for Hagrid to go and visit Aragog because, sensing the giant spider's weakness, his family was getting rather restive and possibly preparing to devour him (Aragog). When Aragog died, Hagrid was able to get Aragog's corpse out of the colony before his children could attempt to cannibalise it, though barely as they would no longer hold back in an attempt to devour Hagrid. Aragog was buried in a deep pit near Hagrid's house the next evening. Aragog's funeral was attended by Hagrid, Harry, and Professor Horace Slughorn, who took the opportunity to "acquire" Aragog's highly valuable venom. In 1998, the Acromantula colony was forced out of the Forbidden Forest by Voldemort, his Death Eaters and his assembled army of magical creatures, who then established their camp there as a prelude to the Battle of Hogwarts. Aragog's children survived, however, and invaded Hogwarts, attacking both the Death Eaters and the defenders of Hogwarts. It is unknown if the colony and its population survived following the conclusion of the battle, which was in favour of the Order of the Phoenix. Personality and traits Aragog had a close friendship with his owner, Hagrid. He admitted that it would have been his instinct to try to attack humans, but he restrained himself out of respect and gratitude for Hagrid, and never personally harmed a human in his life. In fact, Hagrid was the only human that Aragog stopped his sons and daughters from attacking. Otherwise, he would not deprive them of fresh meat and would allow his sons and daughters to attack unsuspecting humans. One such case was when Ron Weasley and Harry Potter found Aragog, though this was more than likely an act of parental care as opposed to anger or hatred. However, the two managed to escape by sheer luck, as the Weasleys' enchanted Ford Anglia emerged to extract them from the danger. Aragog, like all spiders, feared Basilisks, and would not speak of one, not even to Hagrid, who had asked him many times. The way that Aragog would not speak their name or of them is similar to the way that wizards and witches (amongst other creatures like house-elves and goblins) would not speak Voldemort's name, or discuss him even obliquely any more than was absolutely necessary. Etymology *Aragog comes from the words "Ara" which comes from "arachnid", which is the class spiders belong to. "Gog" and "Magog" are biblical names. *Possibly derived from the Greek word "agog," meaning "leader", from which the modern English "demagogue" is an iteration. Behind the scenes version of Aragog]] *In , Aragog was voiced by Julian Glover. *It is possible that Aragog could have been inspired by Shelob, another giant spider, from the '' .Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers *A LEGO version of Aragog was released, entitled 4727 Aragog in the Dark Forest. A second was released in 2010 in which he appeared, named 4738 Hagrid's Hut.[http://shop.lego.com/Product/?p=4727 LEGO Product page for 4727 Aragog in the Dark Forest] * In the , visitors can purchase a plush version of Aragog. *In the film version of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Aragog was a massive animatronic creature. Rupert Grint, the actor who plays Ron Weasley, is afraid of spiders just as much as his character is, and said it was easily the scariest scenes to film. *Aragog was falsely accused by Tom Riddle for the Petrification of many students before the death of Myrtle. Acromantula are not known to be able to induce petrification, making this is another lack of insight of the justice system of the Ministry of Magic, as they fail to notice the discrepancy. *In , Aragog can be seen in the Forbidden Forest scene. When the riders encounter Aragog, he squirts fake venom, which is actually water. Aragog is a giant prop for the ride, and he doesn't seem to do anything. * According to Harry Potter: The Creature Vault, Aragog "was such a beloved character that the design crew wore black armbands while the spider's final scene (Aragog's funeral) was filmed." *The animatronic puppet of Aragog can be found on display at "The Making Of Harry Potter" studio tour in Leavesden. Media File:Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - The Aragog|Meeting Aragog See also *Rubeus Hagrid's pets Appearances attacking Harry Potter and Ron Weasley]] * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Notes and references es:Aragog fr:Aragog ru:Арагог fi:Hämäkäk nl:Aragog pl:Aragog pt-br:Aragogue Category:Acromantulas Category:Hagrid's pets Category:Males Category:Plot to Open the Chamber of Secrets Participants Category:Articles related to Horcruxes Category:1997 deaths Category:Deceased individuals